Automatically or semi-automatically transferring configuration information in connection with a media device upgrade

ABSTRACT

A facility for transferring configuration information to a target media device is described. The facility receives in the target media device a copy of media device settings stored in a source media device distinct from the target media device in a first form in which they are used in the source media device. This copy of media device settings is received by the target media device via a route other than its visual user interface. The facility causes the received copy of media device settings to be transformed into a second form in which they can be used in the target media device. The facility then stores the media receiver settings in the second form in the target media device for use by the target media device.

BACKGROUND

Home media receivers include such devices as set-top boxes for satelliteand cable television services; digital video recorders;Internet-connected audio and video streaming devices; etc. It is commonfor a home media receiver to store configuration information; forexample, many set top boxes and digital video recorders store “timers”:state representing outstanding requests made by a user to record aprogram.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a network diagram showing a sample environment in which thefacility operates in some embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing some of the components typicallyincorporated in at least some of the computer systems and other deviceson which the facility operates.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing a process performed by the facility insome embodiments to transfer configuration information from an old mediadevice to a new media device.

FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram showing a first approach to transferringsettings information used by the facility in some embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram showing a second approach to transferringsettings data used by the facility in some embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram showing a third approach used by thefacility in some embodiments to transfer settings data from the oldmedia device to the new media device.

FIG. 7 is a data flow diagram showing a fourth approach to transferringsettings data from the old media device to the new media device.

FIG. 8 is a data flow diagram showing a fifth approach to transferringsettings data from the old media device to the new media device.

FIG. 9 is a data flow diagram showing a sixth approach used by thefacility in some embodiments to transfer settings data from the oldmedia device to the new media device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The inventors have recognized that the users of home media receiverssometimes upgrade them, such as to increase their storage capacity,expand the set of media formats they can receive and present, improvetheir user interfaces, expand the types of display devices with whichthey are compatible, etc.

The inventors have further recognized that upgrading users often wish toreplicate on their new home media receiver timers and at least some ofthe other configuration information stored on their old home mediareceiver. Typically, upgrading users accomplish this by manuallyreentering the configuration information they wish to replicate from theold receiver using the user interface of the new home media receiver.

The inventors have identified numerous disadvantages of thisconventional process for replicating configuration information. First,on many home media receivers, the process of displaying configurationdata like timers is quite involved, requiring attentive navigationthrough multiple displays. Thus, this process can be difficult andtime-consuming for many users.

Entering configuration data like timers is similarly difficult, alsoinvolving attentive navigation through multiple displays, as well asentering text by traversing the keys of an on-screen keyboard, amountingto additional effort and frustration. Also, because the user interfaceof the new home media receiver may be organized differently from theuser interface of the old home media server, the navigation needed forentry may be different than the navigation needed for display.

Additionally, because the new home media receiver is intended to replacethe old home media receiver in driving a single display device such as atelevision, and because that display device can generally be connectedto and display output from only one of the old and new display devicesat a time, it is not possible to enter particular configuration datainto the new home media receiver while it is being displayed by the oldhome media receiver. This necessitates somehow recording theconfiguration data to be replicated while it is being displayed by theold home media receiver, such as by handwriting notes, recording thenplaying back audio notes, taking multiple photographs, trying tomemorize the configuration information, etc.

In response to the inventors' recognition of these disadvantages, theyhave conceived and reduced to practice a software and/or hardwarefacility for automatically or semi-automatically transferringconfiguration information in connection with the media device upgrade(“the facility”). In some embodiments, the facility extracts timersand/or other settings stored by an old home media receiver or other oldmedia device in a form used by the old media device; transforms theseextracted settings from the form used by the old media device to a formused by a new home media receiver or other new media device; and storesthese transformed settings on the new media device.

In various embodiments, the facility performs the transformation ofsettings on the old media device; on the new media device; on a portabledevice separate from the old and new media devices that is at leasttemporarily present in the customer premises with the old and new mediadevices; or on a server that is remote from the customer premises.

In various embodiments, the facility transfers settings information(either in the form used by the old media device, a form used by the newmedia device, or an intermediate form) from the old media device to thenew media device via a direct wired connection such as a USB cable; byplugging a handheld storage device such as a USB flash drive first intothe old media device, then into the new media device; via a directwireless connection between the old media device and the media devicesuch as a Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or infrared connection; via wirelessconnections routed through an intermediary device, such as a smartphone,tablet computer, laptop computer, or other portable electronic device,or a more permanent Wi-Fi router or access point; or via a server thatis at least temporarily connected to both the old and new media devicesby the Internet or a similar network.

In various embodiments that use an intermediate server, the code on theserver is specially-developed for use by the facility to transfer and/ortransform settings information; a generic remote file storage service;or pre-existing code used to model the state of the old and/or new mediadevice for use in a “media anywhere” service offering that can beaccessed via general-purpose Internet-connected devices such assmartphones, tablet computers, laptop or desktop computers, etc.

By performing in some or all of the ways discussed above, the facilityenables configuration settings such as timers to be easily, quickly,accurately, and completely transferred from the old media device to thenew media device.

Also, the facility improves the functioning of computer or otherhardware, such as by reducing the dynamic display area, processing,storage, and/or data transmission resources needed to perform a certaintask, thereby enabling the task to be permitted by less capable,capacious, and/or expensive hardware devices, and/or be performed withless latency, and/or preserving more of the conserved resources for usein performing other tasks or additional instances of the same task. Asone example, by transferred configuration settings as described, thefacility avoids the expenditure of processing resources that would beused in fulfillment of incorrect or incomplete settings on the new mediadevice as the result of slow, inaccurate, or incomplete manual transfer.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram showing a sample environment in which thefacility operates in some embodiments. In the shown environment, an oldmedia device 111 is being upgraded to a new media device 112 at customerpremises 110, such as a customer's home. In various embodiments, afterthe upgrade process is completed, the old media device is removed fromthe customer premises in favor of the new media device, or both mediadevices continue to operate on the customer premises for some period oftime. In some embodiments, the old and new media devices are connectedvia the internet 120 to at least one server 130. In a variety ofenvironments, the server is a server executing code developedspecifically for the facility to transfer and/or transform configurationinformation; a generic remote file storage or file sharing service; orpre-existing code used to model the state of the old media device, newmedia device, or both for use in a “media anywhere” service offering.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing some of the components typicallyincorporated in at least some of the computer systems and other deviceson which the facility operates. These can include, for example, themedia devices, servers, and other devices shown in FIGS. 1 and 4-9. Invarious embodiments, these computer systems and other devices 100 caninclude server computer systems, cloud computing platforms or virtualmachines in other configurations, desktop computer systems, laptopcomputer systems, netbooks, mobile phones, personal digital assistants,televisions, cameras, automobile computers, electronic media players,etc. In various embodiments, the computer systems and devices includezero or more of each of the following: a central processing unit (“CPU”)101 for executing computer programs; a computer memory 102 for storingprograms and data while they are being used, including the facility andassociated data, an operating system including a kernel, and devicedrivers; a persistent storage device 103, such as a hard drive or flashdrive for persistently storing programs and data; a computer-readablemedia drive 104, such as a floppy, CD-ROM, or DVD drive, for readingprograms and data stored on a computer-readable medium; a networkconnection 105 for connecting the computer system to other computersystems and devices of other types to send and/or receive data, such asvia the Internet or another network and its networking hardware, such asswitches, routers, repeaters, electrical cables and optical fibers,light emitters and receivers, radio transmitters and receivers, IRtransmitters and receivers, and the like; and a display connection 206for connecting to a display device, such as an HDMI, DVI, DP, VGA,composite video, USB, SDI, S-Video, HDMI Wireless, WiDi, or Miracastdisplay connector. While computer systems configured as described aboveare typically used to support the operation of the facility, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that the facility may be implementedusing devices of various types and configurations, and having variouscomponents.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing a process performed by the facility insome embodiments to transfer configuration information from an old mediadevice to a new media device. In act 301, the facility extracts settingsstored on the old media device in a form used by the old media device.In various embodiments, extracted settings include such information as:timers that instruct the media device to record particular programs; oneor more lists of favorite channels; preferences about how program guidesare presented; parental control settings; audio device settings; videodevice settings; language settings; and a variety of other types ofsettings.

In some embodiments, the “old media device form” in which the settingsare extracted is a data structure defined, initialized, populated, andaccessed using a general-purpose programming language, such as the Cprogramming language. In some embodiments, the old media device form isdefined as follows, in whole or part:

TABLE 1 1  typedef union_ebr_global_timer 2  { 3   struct 4   { 5   SERVICE_ID_T  service_id; 6    UINT16  unique_svc_id; 7    UPID_T upid; 8    UINT16  priority; 9    TM_TIMER_FREQUENCY_E frequency; 10   TM_TIMER_TYPE_E  type; 11    TM_GTIMER_ATTR_S  x_attr; 12   OS_TIME   start_time; 13    UINT16   duration; 14    UINT8 min_early; 15    UINT8  min_late; 16    UINT8  dualmode_output; 17   CHAR  service_name[SERVICE_NAME_LEN]; 18    CHAR event_name[EVENT_NAME_LEN]; 19    UINT8  maxEventCnt; 20   TM_UNIQUE_GTIMER_ID  uniqueGTimerId; 21    UINT16 dvr_custom_group_id; 22   }; 23   CHARreserved_bytes[EBR_GLOBAL_TIMER_S_SIZE]; 24 25 {EBR_GLOBAL_TIMER_S; 2627 typedef struct_TM_GTIMER_ATTR 28 { 29   UINT32 manual  : 1; 30  UINT32 ppv  : 1; 31   UINT32 all_ppv  : 1; 32   UINT32 emr  : 1; 33  UINT32 creator  : 1; 34   UINT32 protect  : 1; 35   UINT32 serf  : 1;36   UINT32 tmr_utc  : 1; 37   UINT32 showPopUp  : 1; 38  UINT32 disSkipDupHdd  : 1; 39   UINT32 announce  : 1; 40   UINT32 otv : 1; 41   UINT32 dish_pass_res : 2; 42 43   UINT32 dish_pass_freq : 1;44   UINT32 iptv  : 1; 45   UINT32 justCheck  :1; 46 47  UINT32 ird_web_timer  : 1; 48   UINT32 tm_mirror  1; 49  UINT32 from_trigger  : 1; 50   UINT32 not_in_epg  : 1; 51  UINT32 use_dishpass  : 1; 52   UINT32 pending_delete  : 1; 53  UINT32 auto_convert  : 1; 54   UINT32 unused   :8; 55  }TM_GTIMER_ATTR_S;

In some embodiments, the “frequency” variable, defined in Table 1 online 9, can have a value of “all series”, “new series”, and “one shot”.In some embodiments, if the value of the “frequency” variable is “allseries”, the value of the “upid” variable, defined in Table 1 on line 7,indicates a television series to be recorded, and the “x_attr” variable,defined in Table 1 on line 11, stores attributes describing thetelevision series and its subsequent recording; additionally the “allseries” value indicates that all episodes of the television seriesshould be recorded. In some embodiments, if the value of the “frequency”variable is “new series”, the value of the “upid” variable, defined inTable 1 on line 7, stores information about an episode in a televisionseries, such as a series identifier, episode identifier, and theoriginal air-date, and the “x_attr” variable, defined in Table 1 on line11, stores attributes describing the television series and itssubsequent recording; additionally, the “new series” value indicatesthat only new episodes of the television series should be recorded. Insome embodiments, if the value of the “frequency” variable is “oneshot”, the value of the “upid” variable, defined in Table 1 on line 7,stores information about an episode in a television series, such as aseries identifier, episode identifier, and the original air-date, andthe “x_attr” variable, defined in Table 1 on line 11, stores attributesdescribing the television series and its subsequent recording;additionally, the “one shot” value indicates that only the episodeindicated by the “upid” should be recorded. In some embodiments, if thevalue of the “frequency” variable is “one shot”, the value of the“service_id” variable, defined in Table 1 on line 5, stores informationabout a television channel, the value of the “start_time” variable,defined in Table 1 on line 12, indicates when the recording shouldbegin, and the value of the “duration” variable, defined in Table 1 online 13, indicates how long the recording should last; additionally, the“one shot” value indicates that the recording should only happen onceduring the time period specified by the “start_time” and “duration”variables.

In some embodiments, the “x_attr” variable, defined in Table 1 on line11, is a data structure of type TM_GTIMER_ATTR_S defined as shown inTable 1 from lines 27 to 55. In some embodiments the structureTM_GTIMER_ATTR_S includes variables indicating attributes of therecording, such as: a “manual” variable as defined in Table 1 on line29, which indicates if the user has specified a start time and end timefor the recording; a “ppv” variable as defined in Table 1 on line 30,which indicates if the content to be recorded is pay-per-view; or a“protect” variable as defined in Table 1 on line 34 which indicates ifthe recording should be protected from automatic deletion when datastorage in the media device is full.

In act 302, the facility transforms the extracted settings from the oldmedia device form from which they were extracted from the old mediadevice to a new media device form used by the new media device. In someembodiments, the new media device form is one or more database tables,such as one or more SQL database tables. In some embodiments, the newmedia device form is defined as follows, in whole or part:

TABLE 2 CREATE TABLE gtimers (  gtimer_id INTEGER PRIMARY KEYAUTOINCREMENT,  priority INTEGER NOT NULL,  utc_epoch_start_time INTEGERNOT NULL,  utc_epoch_end_time INTEGER NOT NULL,  min_early INTEGER NOTNULL,  min_late INTEGER NOT NULL,  event_string TEXT NOT NULL, frequency INTEGER NOT NULL,  format INTEGER NOT NULL,  type INTEGER NOTNULL,  search_string TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT ′ ′ ,  search_param INTEGERNOT NULL,  resolution INTEGER NOT NULL,  custom_group_id INTEGER NOTNULL,  max_recorded_events INTEGER NOT NULL,  utc_epoch_created_timeINTEGER NOT NULL,  utc_epoch_updated_time INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0, last_updated_count INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,  utc_epoch_removed_timeINTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,  creator_rxid TEXT NOT NULL, pushed_from_rxid TEXT NOT NULL,  is_protected INTEGER NOT NULL, is_auto_convert INTEGER NOT NULL,  is_emr INTEGER NOT NULL,  is_ppvINTEGER NOT NULL,  is_serf INTEGER NOT NULL,  is_announce INTEGER NOTNULL,  image_id INTEGER NOT NULL,  image_type INTEGER NOT NULL, is_event_image INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,  upid_data INTEGER NOT NULL, image_mode INTEGER NOT NULL DEFAULT 0,  pushed_from_gtimer_id INTEGERDEFAULT 0); CREATE TABLE gtimers_services (  gtimer_id INTEGER NOT NULL, pservice_id INTEGER NOT NULL,  service_name TEXT NOT NULL, service_type INTEGER NOT NULL,  FOREIGN KEY (gtimer_id) REFERENCESgtimers (gtimer_id)+10 ON DELETE CASCADE,  PRIMARY KEY (gtimer_id,pservice_id) );

In act 303, the facility stores the settings transformed into new mediadevice form on the new media device. After act 303, these stepsconclude.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the acts shown in FIG. 3may be altered in a variety of ways. For example, the order of the actsmay be rearranged; some acts may be performed in parallel; shown actsmay be omitted, or other acts may be included; a shown act may bedivided into sub-acts, or multiple shown acts may be combined into asingle act, etc.

FIGS. 4-9 are data flow diagrams showing the facility's transmission ofsettings information between the old and new media devices in variousembodiments.

FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram showing a first approach to transferringsettings information used by the facility in some embodiments. Bycomparing FIG. 4 to FIG. 1, it can be seen that a USB drive 440 or otherportable storage device is first connected to the old media device inorder to transfer settings data 451 from the old media device to the USBdrive. In some embodiments, the code for doing this transfer, andoptionally code for doing the transformation into the new media deviceform, is included in the body of code installed on the old media device,either originally in connection with the manufacture and distribution ofthe old media device, or as later updated, such as automatically from aserver. In some embodiments, the code for exporting the settingsinformation from the old media device, and optionally performingtransformation of the settings information, is automatically or manuallytransferred from the USB drive to the old media device when the USBdrive is connected to the old media device. In some embodiments, theseprocesses only proceed between the old media device and the USB drive ifthe USB drive is recognized as privileged by the old media device. Insome embodiments, the old media device performs this privilegerecognition with respect to the USB drive by determining if the USBdrive stores files that indicate that the USB drive is privileged. Insome embodiments, the files that indicate whether the USB drive isprivileged have special file system permissions that prevent them frombeing removed or deleted from the USB drive. In some embodiments,software installed on the USB drive creates a directory in the filesystem of the USB drive and copies the settings data to the directory.In some embodiments, the software to create a directory in the filesystem of the USB drive and copy the settings data is installed on theold media device. In some embodiments, if the directory already existson the USB drive, data previously stored in the directory is overwrittenby the copied settings data.

After the settings data is transferred from the old media device to theUSB drive, either in old or new form, the USB drive is disconnected fromthe old media device, and connected to the new media device. At thispoint, the settings data 452 is either manually or automatically copiedfrom the USB drive to the new media device. In some embodiments, thiscopying, and optionally transformation of the settings data, isperformed by the software installed in the new media device, eitherinitially or as later updated. In some embodiments, the code is loadedfrom the USB drive to the new media device in response to the connectionof the USB drive to the new media device. In some embodiments, theseactions proceed only after the new media device has recognized asprivileged of the USB drive in one of the manners described above.

FIG. 5 is a data flow diagram showing a second approach to transferringsettings data used by the facility in some embodiments. By comparingFIG. 5 to FIG. 1, it can be seen that a USB cable 540 or other directphysical connection—such as an Ethernet cable or Firewire cable—isconnected between the old media device and the new media device. Thefacility transfers settings data from the old media device to the newmedia device via the cable. In various embodiments, the settings data istransformed by software installed on the old media device; by softwareinstalled on the new media device; or transferred to the server fortransfer formation by either the old media device before transfer to thenew media device, or by the new media device after transfer from the oldmedia device.

FIG. 6 is a data flow diagram showing a third approach used by thefacility in some embodiments to transfer settings data from the oldmedia device to the new media device. By comparing FIG. 6 to FIG. 1, itcan be seen that the facility transfers settings data 651 wirelesslyfrom the old media device to a portable electronic device, and fromthere wirelessly to the new media device. In various embodiments, theportable electronic device can be of a variety of types, includingsmartphones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc. In variousembodiments, the facility uses a variety of wireless communicationapproaches between the old media device, the portable electronic device,and the new media device; these include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and infrared,among others. In various embodiments, the code for transformation of thesettings data executes on the old media device, the portable electronicdevice, or the new media device. In various embodiments, the transfer ofthe settings data is controlled by the old media device, the portableelectronic device, and/or the new media device, using code alreadyinstalled on the old controlling device, or newly installed on the oldmedia device or new media device from the portable electronic device ora server.

FIG. 7 is a data flow diagram showing a fourth approach to transferringsettings data from the old media device to the new media device. It canbe seen by comparing FIG. 7 to FIG. 1 that the facility wirelesslytransmits the settings data 751 from the old media device to the newmedia device using, for example, any of the wireless communicationapproaches discussed above in connection with FIG. 6. Transformation andtransfer of the settings data can be performed by code installed on theold media device, and/or the new media device.

FIG. 8 is a data flow diagram showing a fifth approach to transferringsettings data from the old media device to the new media device. It canbe seen by comparing FIG. 8 to FIG. 1 that the facility wirelesslytransmits settings data from the old media device to a media remotecontrol. The media remote control 840 then transmits settings data 852to the new media device. In various embodiments, the facility uses thevariety of wireless communication approaches that may be available inthe media remote control, such as infrared, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, or otherradio data communications protocols. In various embodiments, control forthe transfer resides in code installed in the old media device, themedia remote control, and/or the new media device. In variousembodiments, the facility transforms the settings data using codeinstalled on the old media device, code installed in the new mediadevice, or code executing in the server.

In various embodiments, when pursuing a wireless approach totransferring the settings data from the old media device or to the newmedia device, as shown for example in FIGS. 6-8, the facility uses awireless adapter that is temporarily installed in the old media device,the new media device, or both. For example, a wireless adapter can betemporarily installed in these devices by plugging them into USBconnectors, or other connectors available on the device.

FIG. 9 is a data flow diagram showing a sixth approach used by thefacility in some embodiments to transfer settings data from the oldmedia device to the new media device. It can be seen by comparing FIG. 9to FIG. 1 that the facility transmits settings data 951 from the oldmedia device via the internet to a server 130, and transfers thesettings data 952 from the server via the internet to the new mediadevice. In various embodiments, code performing the transformation ofthe settings data executes in the old media device, the server, or thenew media device. In various embodiments, the code executing on theserver is specially-developed for use by the facility; a generic remotefile storage or file transfer service; or pre-existing code used tomodel the state of the old and/or new media device for use in a “mediaanywhere” service offering.

The various embodiments described above can be combined to providefurther embodiments. All of the U.S. patents, U.S. patent applicationpublications, U.S. patent applications, foreign patents, foreign patentapplications and non-patent publications referred to in thisspecification and/or listed in the Application Data Sheet areincorporated herein by reference, in their entirety. Aspects of theembodiments can be modified, if necessary to employ concepts of thevarious patents, applications and publications to provide yet furtherembodiments.

These and other changes can be made to the embodiments in light of theabove-detailed description. In general, in the following claims, theterms used should not be construed to limit the claims to the specificembodiments disclosed in the specification and the claims, but should beconstrued to include all possible embodiments along with the full scopeof equivalents to which such claims are entitled. Accordingly, theclaims are not limited by the disclosure.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method in a distinguished media receiverhaving a visual user interface, the method comprising: receiving a copyof media receiver settings stored in a source media receiver distinctfrom the distinguished media receiver, the copy of media receiversettings being received in a first form in which they are used in thesource media receiver, the copy of media receiver settings beingreceived by the distinguished media receiver via a route other than itsvisual user interface, the copy of media receiver settings including atleast one timer specifying the recording of a program scheduled to bebroadcast at a future time; causing the received copy of media receiversettings to be transformed into a second form in which they can be usedin the distinguished media receiver; and storing the media receiversettings in the second form in the distinguished media receiver for useby the distinguished media receiver.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising recording at the distinguished media receiver a program whoserecording is specified by the at least one timer among the mediareceiver settings stored in the second form.
 3. The method of claim 1wherein the causing comprises sending the received copy of mediareceiver settings to a server for transformation into the second form.4. The method of claim 1 wherein the causing comprises transforming thereceived copy of media receiver settings into the second form in thedistinguished media receiver.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the mediareceiver settings are received by the distinguished media receiverthrough a cable simultaneously connected to the source media receiverand the distinguished media receiver.
 6. The method of claim 1 whereinthe media receiver settings are received by the distinguished mediareceiver via a portable storage device that was connected to the sourcemedia receiver and then moved from the source media receiver to thedistinguished media receiver.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the mediareceiver settings are received by the distinguished media receiver via awireless connection.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the wirelessconnection is wireless connection with a media receiver remote control.9. A media device having a visual user interface, comprising: a datainterface configured to receive a copy of media device settings storedin a source media device, the copy of media device settings beingreceived in a first form in which they are used in the source mediadevice, the copy of media device settings being received by the mediadevice via a route other than its visual user interface, the copy ofmedia receiver settings including at least one timer specifying therecording of a program scheduled to be broadcast at a future time; asettings transformation subsystem configured to cause the received copyof media device settings to be transformed into a second form in whichthey can be used by the media device; and a storage device configured tostore the media device settings in the second form for use by thedistinguished media device.
 10. The media device of claim 9 wherein thesettings transformation subsystem transforms the received copy of mediadevice settings to be transformed from a programmatic data structure inwhich they are used on the source media device to one or more databasetables in which they can be used by the media device.
 11. The mediadevice of claim 9, further comprising a network interface, wherein thesetting transformation subsystem causes the network interface totransmit the received copy of media device settings in the first form toa server for transformation.
 12. The media device of claim 9 wherein thedata interface is an electronic connector data interface.
 13. The mediadevice of claim 9 wherein the data interface is a wireless datainterface.
 14. The media device of claim 13 wherein the wireless datainterface is a radio wireless data interface.
 15. The media device ofclaim 13 wherein the wireless data interface is an infrared wirelessdata interface.
 16. The media device of claim 9 wherein the datainterface is a network interface for receiving the media device settingsin the first form from a server that has received the media devicesettings in the first form from the source media device.
 17. One or morecomputer memories collectively having contents configured to cause atarget media device having a visual user interface to perform a method,the method comprising: receiving a copy of media device settings storedin a source media device distinct from the target media device, the copyof media device settings being received in a first form in which theyare used in the source media device, the copy of media device settingsbeing received by the target media device via a route other than itsvisual user interface, wherein the received media device settingsinclude at least one timer specifying the recording of a programscheduled to be broadcast at a future time; causing the received copy ofmedia device settings to be transformed into a second form in which theycan be used in the target media device; and storing the media receiversettings in the second form in the target media device for use by thetarget media device.
 18. The one or more computer memories of claim 17wherein the received copy of media device settings are transformed froma programmatic data structure in which they are used on the source mediadevice to one or more database tables in which they can be used by thetarget media device.
 19. The one or more computer memories of claim 17wherein the copy of media device settings is received from a portablestorage device, method further comprising, before receiving the copy ofmedia device settings from the portable storage device, recognizing theportable storage device as privileged to provide media device settingsto the target media device.
 20. The one or more computer memories ofclaim 17, the method further comprising recording at the target mediareceiver a program whose recording is specified by the at least onetimer among the media device settings stored in the second form.